ASH WEDNESDAY
READINGS First Reading: Joel 2: 12-18; Second: 2 Cor 5: 20 - 6: 2 Gospel: Mt 6: 1-6, 16-18
THEME OF THE READINGS
Today is the beginning of Lent, a time of penance and reconciliation. The readings of this Wednesday stress, above all, inwardness, a repentant heart, and reconciliation. In the penitential liturgy of the first reading, God tells us through the prophet Joel: "Return to me with all your heart, ... and rend your hearts, and not your garments." In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to put externals to one side and pray, fast. and give alms "in secret," that is, from the interior of our heart. The reconciliation Saint Paul speaks about in the second reading means, above all, creation by another, a remaking of one's interior.
DOCTRINAL MESSAGE
The greatness or misery of a person is measured by the greatness or misery of his heart. A person is forged in the interior, in good or bad thoughts, in good or evil decisions, in just or unjust behavior, in truthful or deceptive words. Jesus Christ has come into the world to change mankind from within, so that his works are a true expression of his heart. In face of the behavior of his contemporaries, marked by ostentatious display, Jesus assumed an attitude of perfect harmony with his conduct and his teaching. The works that Jesus mentions are good and praiseworthy, but any form of ostentation is to be reproved, because it is not done for God but for human recognition. To "give alms" is a good thing, but to give alms to be appreciated by others and have our generosity praised, is not Christian. "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing," Jesus Christ warned us.
Let us do good for the love of God the Father, whose face is reflected in the poor and those who need our money and our fraternal love. "Prayer" and "fasting"" are two great works, when done with right intention, without wishing to call attention, with the desire to please God the Father and to serve our brothers. True conversion is not in fasting, praying and almsgiving, but in doing these with a renewed heart, free from egoism and personal interests. The attitude of Christ follows upon that of the prophets, especially the text of the prophet Joel, in the first reading. The penitents of those times rent their garments to show their sorrow and repentance. Joel tells them it is far more important to rend their hearts and to sorrow for their sins. As St. Paul points out in the second reading, the early Church followed the attitude and teaching of Jesus Christ. The new creature, emerging from baptism, is reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. The Apostles, who continue the work of Christ, are the ministers of reconciliation. In regard to the minister, he exhorts: "We entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain." This is a very appropriate exhortation at the beginning of Lent.
PASTORAL SUGGESTIONS
We are taking giant steps toward the Great Jubilee of the year 2000. Characteristic of the Jubilee is the spiritual joy that comes from the great gifts of the mystery of the Incarnation. However, prior to spiritual joy is the need for conversion, for the purification of our life, at least grazed by, if not sunk in, the darkness and sadness of sin. In order to express conversion and to obtain interior purity, the Church proposed certain means: a pilgrimage to Rome, the Holy Land, or the Cathedral Church. To be a pilgrim is to be on the road to the Father's house " is an exercise of practical asceticism, of repentence for human weakness, of constant vigilance over one’s own frailty" (Incarnationis Mysterium, 7). To be a pilgrim is to recognize our need for a Father who comes to meet us, forgiving us and re-establishing us in the dignity of being his children.
Another means the Church offers is the holy door, which evokes " the passage from sin to grace which every Christian is called to accomplish" (IM, 8). As we are all sinners, we are all called to take this step, to enter through this door of grace and mercy. The holy door is Jesus Christ: to cross it means to confess our faith in him and his doctrine, as it has been transmitted by the Church through the two millennia. This holy door, which is Jesus Christ, gives us access to the Church, founded by him as a sign and instrument of union with God and with the whole human race.
Christ and the Church, inseparably united, to save mankind. Why are we so awkward sometimes and insist on separating them?The last means the Church gives us in her maternal solicitude are the indulgences, the traditional name for "the fullness of the Father's mercy, who offers everyone his love, expressed primarily in the forgiveness of sins" (IM, 9). The indulgences must not be separated from conversion of heart, divine mercy, the sacrament of penance, or the joy of forgiveness and grace. Only in this spiritual and ecclesial context are they properly understood and their saving effect activated. It is important, therefore, to explain well the concept of indulgences to the faithful, and the concrete way in which they can obtain a plenary indulgence, in keeping with the dispositions set out by the Apostolic Penitentiary.
Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOA.html
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ASH WEDNESDAY
First: Jl 2:12-18; Second: 2 Cor 5:20-6:2; Gospel: Mt 6:1-6.16-18
THEME of the READINGS
Ash Wednesday reminds us all of conversion and penance, but I think that the liturgy does not so much stress this aspect as that of the interiorization of acts of penance and conversion. Thus in the first reading God tells us through the prophet Joel: "Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn." In the Gospel, Jesus teaches on the three practices of Judaic piety: fasting, prayer and alms-giving. In all three he insists: "Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice." Lastly, St Paul exhorts the Corinthians to be reconciled with God in order to feel his saving power, and not to let the favorable time go by unheeded (second reading).
DOCTrinal MESSAGE
An interior religion. Religion means a just and proper relationship between man and God. Man is a being who is "bound" to God, dependent upon God, and in this sense he is by nature "religious". All religions, in one way or another, are institutions in which man is helped in his "religious" dimension both to become aware of it and to express it in worship and life. The Christian religion is the religion founded by Jesus Christ, true man and true God, in whom the God-man relationship achieves its maximum interiorization in a person’s life and heart. An interiorization which is at the same time a supreme familiarity with God, to the point of calling him "my Father". All Christians are invited to reproduce in themselves, as far as is humanly possible, Jesus’ interiorization and familiarity in his relations with God, his Father. Only when there is a true interiorization do the external expressions of religion and the various practices of devotion and piety cease to be the object of human manipulation and become a purely "religious" obligation, the need of hearts and lives. It is typical of the human experience that when the soul is deeply imbued with something we feel the need to express and externalize it. Only when the step to religious expression, to popular piety, is based on interior religion is it truly authentic. In fact, from a contrite heart comes the inner impulse to penance, fasting, and prayer.
God sees the intention. Religious practices are necessary, but if they do not flow from the heart, from man’s inmost depths, they lend themselves to human manipulation and exploitation, serving selfish aims. In the Gospel, Jesus Christ puts his finger on this highly sensitive point. Fasting, alms-giving and prayer are good in themselves, but are exploited when they are only done to be seen and praised by others. In human eyes, those who give alms sounding a trumpet so that everyone will know about it, pray on street corners so that everyone will realize that they are praying and that they know long prayers by heart, or put on a lugubrious expression to make it plain that they have been fasting, can pass as supremely pious and holy, but they do not, nor can they, deceive God. God looks at the heart and he sees that their hearts are selfish, that their fasting, alms-giving and prayer do not flow from hearts full of God or at least of repentance and the desire for conversion, but instead are full of selfishness.
Be reconciled with God. Every person, even if he is deeply religious, feels that his life and conduct are not always at peace and in reconciliation with God. He realizes that at times he is not attached to God but has broken off his relationship with him. Letting ourselves be reconciled is returning to accepting our "religious" condition and establishing a genuine relationship with God: not based on enmity or hatred, but on love and friendship, not on division or withdrawal, but on closeness and intimacy. It is not we who reconcile ourselves with God, but rather, we must let ourselves be reconciled; we are free to accept reconciliation, but not to create it or initiate it. It is Our Lord Jesus Christ who reconciles us Christians with God through his cross and his glorious resurrection. That is why Sundays, when we commemorate these realities and mysteries, are the favorable time for Jesus Christ to make effective in us the work of his reconciliation with the Father, and hence with our human brethren.
PASTORal SUGGESTIONS
The meaning of Christian penance. Already in the Didache, which dates from the end of the first century, Christian penitential practices are mentioned. These penitential and "religious" practices have always existed and continue to exist in the Church’s life. According to the epoch and popular customs, they were more or less rigorous and widespread. Today, when we read of the penitential practices of Irish monks or the penitential acts of people in the Middle Ages, we are surprised and find them exaggerated; but it does not seem that people thought the same in those times and places. In our epoch, the Church has eased the prescribed penitential practices, such as fasting and abstinence or the penance imposed by the priest in the sacrament of Reconciliation. But at the same time, she has not ceased to indicate other practices of penance which are more in line with our time. She especially recommends interior repentance; that is, of our passions of pride, of the vanity of our desire to have and to dominate, of the concupiscence of the mind and the concern with appearances… This is certainly the penance most pleasing to God. What is more, it is most spiritually beneficial to us because it leads us to rid ourselves of our ego and of everything in which our ego has pride of place, even with regard to God himself. What is the meaning of mortification of the body when the heart is putrid with selfishness? Is repenting of our selfishness and pride what we Christians practice most? In the parish, in the family, at school, children and adolescents should be gradually taught this type of penance, in which is found the true meaning of Christian repentance.
A pure intention for God. Many celebrations and activities are organized in the parish. At their center is the celebration of the Eucharist, of the sacraments. There are also activities of catechesis and of help and charity to various categories of persons: the sick, the elderly, emigrants, the unemployed; there are cultural, sports, and social activities… It might not be a bad thing to ask oneself at some point or other about the intention of those who are organizing the various activities. If only this were always a pure intention for God! But it is frequently mixed with other very human intentions, and at times human intentions are predominant, if not exclusive. Sometimes Jesus Christ sees himself obliged once again to repeat: "Your Father will reward you". The Lenten season we are beginning should be a favorable time for an examination of our conscience, to discern more deeply and sincerely the intentions of our conduct, attitudes, activities, plans and achievements.
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Ash WEDNESDAY
First: Jol 2:12-18; Second: 2 Cor 5:20-6:2; Gospel: Mt 6:1-6.16-18
THEME of the READINGS
"[I]n the name of Christ we appeal to you to be reconciled to God," Saint Paul exhorts us in the second reading (2 Cor 5:20). Reconciliation is the key word in the liturgy of Ash Wednesday. Reconciliation means a change "from something". This is why it calls for turning back to God, a turning back that comes from God, to which the prophet Joel calls us in the first reading: "Come back to Yahweh your God." In the Gospel, Jesus internalizes the religious and penitential practices of Judaism: alms must be given in secret, fasting must be joyful and prayer must be humble. "And your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you."
DOCTrinal MESSAGE
The primacy of the heart. The term "heart" is used to indicate the interior – not in opposition to, but as a source of, all external action of reconciliation and penance. For this reason, let us not speak of exclusivity, but of primacy. Using a fortunate expression, the prophet Joel advocates such primacy: "Tear your hearts and not your clothes" (first reading). It is evident that the prophet does not mean this expression in an excluding way, since in verse 15 he continues: "Order a fast, summon the community... Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, stand weeping between portico and altar," all of which are external actions.
The Gospel text shows Jesus taking to the maximum degree of internalization the three typical practices of Jewish religion – and we might say of all religions, including the Christian religion:
1) Almsgiving, which today we could translate into charity, solidarity, social work, volunteerism, all the possible forms of help to the needy. Jesus teaches us his own style of practicing charity: in secret, without any ostentation, only seeking to please God and fulfill his most holy will in the world.
2) Prayer. This includes all of the spiritual activities that unite people with God, from Mass to private prayer, from meditation to liturgical prayer, from the sacrament of penance to the different forms of popular piety. What is important for Christians is that whatever the spiritual activity they engage in, it should be a true encounter with God the Father in the intimacy of their hearts.
3) Fasting. This means anything that entails giving up one’s self, self-giving to become more available to God and to our neighbors. This may refer to voluntary sacrifices, the small troubles of everyday life, accepting life’s trials with determination and courage, the constant and brave struggle against temptations. What is important here is the spiritual joy with which we face all of these situations, a joy that has repercussions on our attitude towards God and towards people.
Ministers of reconciliation. "So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were urging you through us," Saint Paul tells us in the second reading, and he adds, "As his fellow-workers, we urge you not to let your acceptance of his grace come to nothing." Saint Paul shows us the ecclesial dimension of reconciliation. It is God who places in our hearts the gift of reconciliation (let yourselves be reconciled by God), and it is we who welcome it (or reject it); but the Church is the instrument chosen by God himself to remind us, through its ministers, of this extraordinary gift. At the same time, the Church is the mediator chosen by God for all reconciliation. For this reason, the Church must preach everywhere and in all possible ways reconciliation with God and among people, and administer this reconciliation by means of the sacrament of penance and forgiveness. Today’s liturgy is a clear call to bishops and priests to always be ready to promote reconciliation, and be available to reconcile people with God and with their brothers and sisters by means of the sacrament.
PASTORal SUGGESTIONS
Making reconciliation universal. As Catholics, we must first of all be reconciled with ourselves, with our conscience, which we have placed before God and his will. At the same time, we must seek reconciliation within the Catholic Church itself, for an un-reconciled person or community will not be able to reconcile others. Under the impulse and guidance of the Holy Father and of our bishops, we must promote reconciliation in all the Christian communities that are separated from the Catholic Church: with our prayer, our witness, our solidarity, our material or spiritual aid. Equally, we must promote reconciliation with the members of other religions (Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc...). It is likely that within the limits of our very parishes there are members of other Christian Churches, or of other religions: the impulse towards and desire for reconciliation will have to start with them. How? By trying to put into practice the ways that our bishops or priests suggest to us. In addition to this, however, the Spirit will inspire each one to come up with concrete, personal or community ways of going about it. Universal reconciliation embraces other areas of life, in addition to the religious sphere: the reconciliation of the more developed North with the South at a world or at a national level; reconciliation between atheists or agnostics – often hostile to all things religious – and believers, who sometimes exaggerate their differences; reconciliation between persons coming from countries at war or in terrible economic conditions, and the inhabitants of the host countries; reconciliation in soccer stadia between the fans of one team and those of another, of the national teams of different countries.
Permanent reconciliation. The phenomenon of globalization calls for a permanent reconciliation. People, human communities are not reconciled once and for all; instead, they need to be in a constant attitude of reconciliation. In reconciliation the same thing happens as in love: if it is not nourished, it goes cold, it deteriorates and dies. Day after day we must renew the attitude of our soul towards reconciliation, and we must practice acts of reconciliation, as small as they may be, to keep it alive and make it grow. How many opportunities to practice reconciliation do you have each day? I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s more than one. Don’t let them go. Take advantage of them. To succeed in creating an attitude of reconciliation in one’s soul, one must have practiced it indefatigably, on many occasions. Why not reflect, at the end of the day, on whether you have had any opportunity to reconcile yourself with God? Have you let him down in something, or been less than generous with him? Why not reflect on whether you have had an opportunity to practice reconciliation with others (relatives, neighbors, immigrants, Christians of other Churches, beggars...) and whether you have seized that opportunity. This is a reflection that could rather change your life and that of those around you!
Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOC.html by P. ANTONIO IZQUIERDO L.C. (1948-2013)
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교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이:
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마련되었습니다].